


The Legend of Rose Hexfury - In Search of The Black Pearl

by infinitarisus



Series: The Legend of Rose Hexfury [2]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Blindness, Canon Compliant, Canon Continuation, Chaptered, Depression, Domestic Violence, F/M, Half-Siblings, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Innuendo, Magic, Medicine, Mythology References, Nightmares, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Original Female Character, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Prophecy, Reunions, Series, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14282997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitarisus/pseuds/infinitarisus
Summary: Part 2 of the story of Rose Hexfury, the half-sister of Jack Sparrow, pupil of Tia Dalma, and daughter of Captain Teague. This is her untold story; all the times you never saw her, all the interactions she had with the characters you remember, and the impact you never knew she made.In this continuation, Rose and Angelica are ready to embark on a voyage for their future. Rose meets a figure from her past who has been forever scarred by trauma and begins her quest to find her half-brother and be reunited with The Black Pearl.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi reader! For Rose's introduction, check out the first part of this series, "The Perilous Prelude."

Rose took a deep breath of murky, swamp air. It had been her brother that had persuaded her to join here in the upriver bayou with a mystic under the name of Tia Dalma. Once she had finally agreed to become her apprentice, everything since had fallen into place. Ever since her gypsy clan and the only family she knew were exiled and deported under the Navy, she had been alone and distraught. That was until Jack. She met her brother under the unlikeliest of circumstances, and he was a friend when she had none at all. As his life appealed to her, she joined the opposing force to become a pirate, like her brother father.

Under Tia Dalma, Rose learned to do physical tasks, which included learning to identify and properly use certain herbs, using the elements of nature, and using ancient chants and remedies to heal.

And as she exhaled that long, deep breath, she remembered her half-brother, Jack. She met him for the first time when she was sold into slavery coincidentally on the same merchant ship as he, after losing her gypsy clan. They discovered their connection and Jack confided in her of his plans to break away from their father’s wrath, become a captain and sail the seas forever. He made her a promise that he would find her and have her join in his adventures across the Caribbean, but he was convinced otherwise by his treacherous first-mate Barbossa to keep Rose in the bayou with Tia. And all was at peace, until Angelica surfaced.

 

All these years Rose had been wondering about him, and now was her chance to find Jack and his ship…


	2. Her New Life

A chime sounded from downstairs. Blinking awake, Rose sat up and stretched out her limbs. Throwing her legs over her hammock, she examined the looking glass adjacent to her. Ten years. Ten years and she looked far older than twenty-four. She had the dark hair of her mother and eyes of her father. She had noticed as the years had passed that her eyes had developed flecks of hazel color in their interior. She tried to remember if Jack or her father had these similar patterns to their eyes, but struggled to even recall their faces it had been so long. She constantly looked tired, the consistently moist skin as a result of the humid salt air of the bayou stretched tight across her face. Rose was a wreck.

Pulling the cotton sheet away from her dirty nightgown which at one time had been white, Rose embraced the humid cold of the early morning bayou. She stretched again, and then rose, looking out of her rusted and dusty window at the swampy darkness. Seldom times a flicker of sunlight would grace this fertile habitat, dancing and chasing away every shadow as it traveled with the wind. After leaving, the shadows would return and linger once again. A shallow breeze blew in from the north, carrying the salty scent of the ocean with it. It beckoned to her, calling her name. The sea was tempting her to travel from the boggy swamplands, and return to days of full sunlight and billowing sails and bustling streets, and not days of eternal darkness and silence.

"Come on, Angelica!" Rose muttered firmly to the collapsed heap on the bed alongside the opposite wall to her. "Tia called and you know as well as I that she waits for no one."

A groan was her only response, followed by a brief repositioning. Rose walked over to her and shook her shoulder. "Angelica! It's not going to be on me that you spent your night galavanting off to Lord knows where only to achieve half a night's rest and then proceed to not pull your end of the duties here. Get up!”

Rose turned away, going to her chest and proceeding to get herself ready for the day. It was Angelica’s choice if she didn’t want to obey Tia Dalma, Rose knew better.

Angelica’s voice was dark and gravelly from sleep when she said, "How could you stand it? Living with him?"

Rose snorted. “Dreaming of Jack again?”

“More like nightmares,” her counterpart replied, throwing her legs over the side of her bed. “But for how long did you live with him?”

In ten years, this was the most conversation Angelica and Rose had ever sustained. Cautiously, Rose responded, “Briefly. I traveled with him. When we were quite young, he and I visited from time to time, but never for long."

"Why did he bring you here?" Angelica asked as she adjusted her bandana. 

Rose pulled the cotton sheet on her hammock into an orderly fashion and turned to her. “His first mate did it. He had immense power over Jack and Tia.”

Angelica narrowed her eyes. “What power could anyone possibly have over Tia?”

“I don’t know,” Rose shrugged. Suddenly, she remembered something about that day that originally she had dismissed. “Although…”

“What?”

“It had something to do with that silver locket of hers.”

“The music box?” asked Angelica.

“Aye. Barbossa knew something about that necklace… And what ever it is, he used it to get her to keep me here.”

Angelica squinted in confusion. “So…by that logic, you can leave anytime you’d like. There’s no prophecy keeping you here—just blackmail.”

Rose shook her head. “Were it that simple. Tia said that I can’t leave the bayou and rejoin Jack until _the tides have turned_ , whatever that means. Nothing’s happened in over a decade so far.”

Angelica sighed in exasperation. “Always following the rules! Tia Dalma’s Angel wouldn’t _dare_ lie, cheat or steal!”

Rose fumed, “Stop that!”

Angelica leaned toward Rose mischievously. “Why don’t we turn the saint into a sinner, eh? There’s no homing charm on _you_! I’ll lead you to the taverns, introduce you to a man or two…”

“No thank you,” Rose snorted, returning to folding her sheet.

“Have it your way, Hexfury,” Angelica called, beginning to start down the stairs and into the main room. “I just think that eleven years of life without really living is an unfortunate waste!”

Rose rolled her eyes as her roommate departed, but couldn’t help feel twinges of truth ringing behind her words. It had been ten long years, and Rose was tired of waiting for her life to begin. She had no way of knowing if Jack was alive or dead, what ever became of her childhood love Benjamin McHenry, or even if her father still sailed the seas. She was completely cut off in her tiny world, and longed for so much more.

* * *

 

That day was surprisingly busy for the three women. Sickness had hit the bayou, and therefore all bayou-dwellers came flocking to Tia Dalma’s shack to find healing. Some believed in Tia’s healing powers. Those were funneled to the back. Rose however went hard at work grinding together a variety of herbs and poultices that would most definitely help. It was hours of visitor after visitor, and neither Tia nor Angelica nor Rose had any time in between each patron to even speak to one another.

Finally, the traffic began to die down. Rose, who had been stationed at the front of the main room began to clean up the rogue herbs that had fallen on the ground beneath her. Angelica entered and promptly plopped herself onto the nearest chair.

“I’m exhausted,” she pouted.

Rose sighed. “All you did was place people into various lines.”

“Which is exhausting! All _you_ did was play with your bloody plants!”

“And probably save lives,” she added.

Angelica moved on from this thought, sitting straight up and turning her gleaming eyes towards Rose. “Wait a moment…”

“What?” Rose growled. She knew this look from Angelia, and it only meant trouble.

She stood, and began rummaging through drawers in the shelves surrounding them.

“What _are_ you doing?” Rose asked.

“I’m trying to find that locket,” Angelica’s muffled voice said from inside a cabinet. “See if I can find out whatever secrets it holds!”

“No!” Rose cried. “You are _not_ going to blackmail Tia Dalma!”

Angelica’s hair flipped over her shoulder as she sharply turned back to Rose. “Do you want to get out of here or not?”

“Not like this, I don’t! It isn’t right! After all she’s done for us…”

Angelica only waved her off, continuing to rummage through Tia’s belongings. Rose went back to her work, refusing to give in to Angelica’s schemes. This continued until Angelica had worked her way over to the side room window that overlooked the rest of the bayou.

“Hey,” she called. “I found the locket.”

Rose groaned. “Leave it be. I will not defend you if Tia finds you.”

“No, come here.”

“I’m busy!”

“ _Will you please come here!”_

Rose threw her arms down at her side and angrily stomped to where Angelica looked out the window, motioning for Rose to do the same.

“I have night blindness, O Wise One,” Rose growled, reminding Angelica that whatever she was looking at in silent fascination could not be seen by both spectators.

“It’s Tia!” Angelica whispered, peering out of the shutters. “She’s standing in the water waist high. She’s holding the locket in her palm…”

Rose shrugged. “So? She’s a mystic! She’s keen to the strange and unusual.”

She could only watch Angelica’s face, and quickly noticed how taken aback her cohort was. “She…” she stammered. “She’s moving the water!”

“What?” asked Rose.

“She’s moving it with her hands…but she’s not touching it!”

“Moving it how?”

“Little ripples! She seems to be in some sort of trance!”

Rose shook her head in disbelief. “You must be mistaken,” she reasoned. “She must be holding some sort of a stick—“

“I swear it! She’s moving the water!”

This was foreign to Rose. After eleven years, Rose was certain that she knew the extent of Tia’s powers. Why would Tia retire herself into such a secluded part of the bayou and perform such an incredible feat in secret? Angelica did have a point; there was far too many secrets about Tia Dalma that Rose had never dared question until now.

Suddenly, Rose was thrown out of these thoughts from a quick yank of the arm by Angelica, who cried out, “Duck!” and pulled the both of them so that they were hiding behind the window ledge.

“Did she see us?” Rose whispered.

“I think so…” Angelica replied, swallowing.

Rose’s mind started racing in hopes of finding some excuse they could use to divert their obvious spying. “We could just say that we heard a strange noise in the—“

“That would never work!” Angelica interrupted. “I’ll just tell her the truth! There’s strange nonsense going on and we want answers!”

“Is everything just a battle with you? You’re constantly fighting everything that crosses your path! Isn’t it exhausting?”

“Well if you weren’t so stubborn—“

“Oh _I’m_ the stubborn one?”

“Yes, you—“

Their quarrel was interrupted a pointed clearing of the throat. The two women looked up from their crouched positions under the window to find Tia herself, who had entered and was staring down at her apprentices with pursed lips.

Instantly, both Angelica and Rose leapt to their feet, trying to distract from the even more obvious nosiness that they had just demonstrated. Both began speaking at once.

“Tia I was just telling Angelica that I—“

“—we needed to find you, and we—“

“—well you see, I was missing the comfrey and I—“

“—heard a strange noise coming from the—“

Tia silenced them with a flick of her finger, then rendered them completely speechless with two simple sentences that they both had longed to hear for over a decade now:

_Da tides ‘ave turned. Ya both be free ta go._


	3. Leaving the Bayou

“What?” Rose and Angelica both exclaimed simultaneously.

“Ya heard me,” Tia said simply. “Ya be free.”

As she flounced out of the storage room’s doorway, the two girls exchanged a shocked glance.

 _Freedom._ That’s all Rose had longed for ten years, but now that it was here, she suddenly felt incomplete. “So what happens now?” she asked, on Tia’s heels as she walked into the main room. “Isn’t there some sort of…of prophecy or some mission I am to go on?”

Tia Dalma shook her head. “Nay. Id be yer time.”

Rose was incredulous. “And that’s it? Now I’m to do what, find Jack?”

“Yes.”

Rose threw up her arms in exasperation. “But how? That’s all you have to say? After the years of riddles and prophecies…nothing? I just have to trust that I can find Jack wherever he may be in the world?”

Tia considered this for a moment, then chirped, “Yes.”

Intense feelings of confusion and anger rushed through Rose, sending her reeling. She only scoffed, staring wide-eyed at Tia in stiff silence as the priestess meandered over to her table and began chanting to her crab claws.

Angelica muttered under her breath to Rose as she passed her on her way up the stairs to pack, “We’re leaving, that’s all that matters. What are you so upset about?”

Rose was upset about an innumerable amount of things. She hadn’t been out of the bayou in over a decade. She had no contacts on the outside. She was leaving with Angelica and she felt completely uncertain about her future and had no idea where to even begin looking for Jack.

Tia looked up from the crab claws once Angelica had left the room, saying softly to Rose, “I know id be hard. Let Angelica guide ya off da island. Ya must obey her once ya leave he-ere. Id be da only way you’ll find whad ya seek.”

Rose was nearly speechless she was so overwhelmed. "I don't know what to say," she finally managed to squeak out. "You taught me so much for such a long time...I have so many questions I thought would be answered before this day. You have prepared me...yet I feel so incredibly...unprepared. What do I do?"

Tia took Rose’s hand. "You be ready. You 'ave to be."

Rose wanted to cry. She had spent more time with this woman than her own mother, yet she knew virtually nothing about her."How can I thank you?” she whispered.

"Just find 'im. Keep 'im safe.”

* * *

Rose walked down those stairs for what she thought was the last time, carrying nothing from her past. Not any of her gypsy heritage, nothing. That way, she thought, a part of her would never be forgotten from the site. Though she certainly had days of heartbreak, loneliness, and confusion in the bayou, it had become a part of who she was. Now, her only reminders of this portion of her life would be nothing but the clothes on her back and the herb pack tied around her waist. 

As she entered the main room, she saw Angelica, holding a small leather bag with the few belongings she had accumulated over the past decade. She looked emotionless.

"Where's Tia?" Rose asked.

“In the back I think.”

“Shouldn’t we say goodbye?”

"I don't see why," Angelica responded bitterly.

Rose scoffed and quickly walked to the storage room to say her farewell, but Tia wasn’t there either. Perhaps she was in the swamp again, deep in the mysterious trance Rose and Angelica had found her in earlier that day…

“Do you want to leave or not?” Angelica’s shrill voice called.

Though it pained her not to properly thank Tia Dalma for all her years of care, she whispered a farewell and joined Angelica. As soon as they had left the building, the night blindness took hold. Together they took a rowboat down the river Angelica had stolen years before. As Rose could not see anything, her sense of direction was rendered utterly useless. The journey was near silent, sans a few recommendations on where to row or directions on how to leave. Shapes suddenly began to materialize before her eyes as the light began to grow steadily stronger, and for the first time in ten years, Rose was surrounded in sunlight.

The exterior of the bayou was far different than that of the interior. The white sand of the shore led to green grass, which led to lush jungle. Now that her vision was fully restored, the boat moved along far quicker. They approached the shoreline that fed directly into open ocean

"This land is far larger than it appears," Angelica announced. "There's Shipwreck Island that can easily be reached by this boat just on the other side. If we try for any other island however, the waves get too rough for this size of boat. I say we try there!”

Angelica had been outside the bayou many times since Jack had left her there. Rose hadn’t. Unfortunately, this meant that Rose had little choice but to defer to Angelica’s judgement. While this minimized quarreling, which was their specialty, it terrified Rose that she had no say in her immediate future.

“There’s a fortress there, but also a small town,” Angelica continued as they rowed. “Some of the townspeople run a few taverns. It’s the only place to resupply for miles. Mostly fishing boats this time of year. One never knows, however..." When Rose only continued to silently keep rowing, Angelica huffed, ”What is the problem, Hexfury?”

Rose turned to her. ”The problem is that I don't want to be here. Generally, I _never_ want to be with you, but now I particularly do not want to be entirely alone with you, set off on a solo quest I hardly know anything about! _That_ is my problem, Teach!"

"It's not as though I would choose you, either!" Angelica spat. "Just stop being stubborn and follow my lead to town, lest you’d rather swim!”

“Why? What will town get us?"

"The town," Angelica smirked, "Will grant you a ticket out of this godforsaken place."

"You expect me to be a stowaway?"

"Why live a _gypsy_ life when one can ride in style?"

Rose grimaced. "I appreciate the insult, Angelica, but tell me—how would one achieve such high status?"

Her eyes sparkled maliciously as she whispered, “Get friendly with the pirates!"

“Absolutely not!”

“Just enough to distract them! Steal any valuable you find. We can use them to barter with one of these other men for a ride to the next port of call.”

Rose was unmoving. “If you’ll recall, I at one time had enough money to buy us passage anywhere! _You_ were the one to steal and pawn it off! I rather think _you’ll_ do the distracting while I wait!”

Angelica narrowed her eyes. ”The world is not as naïve and innocent as you are, _ninita._ My guidance ends once we reach the shore. Either heed my advice, or find your own way off Shipwreck Island.”

Tia’s final words to her rang in Rose’s ears: _Ya must obey Angelica once ya leave he-ere. Id be da only way you’ll find whad ya seek._

Rose swallowed her frustrations and silently continued rowing. The trek was long, taking most of the afternoon, but was not overly strenuous. The worst part of the journey was her eyes adjusting to the amount of light she was now exposed to. The heat on her back was incomparable to the rage in the pit of her stomach however. _I cannot believe that Angelica expects me to stoop to her level._ At the same time, a single yet powerful doubt crossed her mind— _What if she is right? What if stooping to her level is my only way off this island?”_


	4. A Tall, Dark Stranger

They arrived at the island about an hour later and reached the town just after sunset. It was very small, and was mostly surrounded by the hillside. There were about five small buildings and outcroppings built out of stone that made up the entirety of the town. Not a soul was stirring outside, sans one drunkard asleep on a nearby stone wall that bordered the dock.

"Follow me," Angelica said. "This is the best place to find gullible sailors if ever I've seen one."

Rose increased her pace to keep up. “Have you…done this a lot before?”

Angelica’s eyes brightened and a seductive smile crawled across her face. “Sometimes,” her voice sang. “I do it just for the fun of it! Only now there’s no homing charm to interrupt me!” She turned and peered through the window. "Perfect! Just the band of rouges we need!"

She pulled the door open. Suddenly, Rose found herself buffeted by rank, hot air and noise. There had to be over twenty pirates in the tavern, drinking, brawling and laughing. "Follow my lead," Angelica yelled over the chaos. The two women approached the bar. An unsettling feeling came over Rose as she realized that they were the only ladies in the vicinity.

In spite of herself, Rose actually began to respect Angelica because of how fearlessly she approached the nearest pirate, a large and intimidating man who was entirely shirtless. "Excuse me," she said to him. He turned to them and Rose subconsciously stopped breathing for a moment. He was the most frightening man she had ever seen, despite having spent her entire childhood amongst pirates. Angelica seemed unfazed. "Is your captain here?" The man just snarled and returned to his drink.

A loud spoken, shorter man answered for him. “There be loads o’ capt’n’s here, Senorita! We’ve got a band o’ small one-man ships ‘ere this time of year!”

"So," Angelica restated, uncertainly. “None of you are members of a crew, then?”

The man's smile faded and he approached Angelica threateningly. "What did I just say, lassie?"

"Alright, Charles! That's enough! Leave them be!" a voice barked from the rear of the room. The greasy man stalked away like an animal.

Angelica quickly rushed Rose into a corner. "Change of plans," she whispered. "We take two men, one each. Use your feminine charms to coerce him to take you wherever you want to go!”

“Out of the question!” Rose cried. “I’m not about to…to… _sell_ myself off!”

Angelica grinned a catlike grin. “Oh dear,” she said sarcastically. “What a tragedy that the saint is forced to become a sinner!”

"I don't even know what to _do,_ Angelica!" Rose was shaking, she was so on edge. She longed for the safety and consistency of the bayou, though she had only been away from it for but an hour.

Angelica took a moment, noticing Rose’s genuine fear and feeling the slightest bit of pity towards her comrade. ”Nothing to fear! Just follow my lead! Now," said she, grabbing Rose’s hand and pulling her toward the other side of the tavern. "Let's find us men!" She squinted, as though considering something. Finally, she said, "Your first romance...I'll let you have the handsome one!"

Before she knew it, Rose found herself pushed into the side of a pirate sitting remote from the rest. He sat on a stool, but as he lifted his face, Rose was taken aback by his looks. Angelica was quite generous in letting her be with this gentleman. He had long dark brown hair and was bearded. His blue eyes had a dull yet iridescent quality to them that left Rose staring for an inordinate amount of time. He simply stared at back her, forcing Rose into a position where she had to speak first.

 _Say something!_ "I'm sorry sir," she finally managed to squeak out.

"That's alright."

 _Ah! He’s soft-spoken_ , she thought. _Perhaps, even if he’s even just the slightest bit intoxicated, I could go with Angelica’s original plan and have no trouble stealing his valuables!_

He was staring at her again. _Oh lord, did I just miss what he said?_

"I _said,"_ he repeated, "Are you the barmaid?"

Rose laughed nervously. "Oh! Oh no, I'm um...I'm with a friend..." Rose then turned to introduce someone who wasn't even there. Angelica was across the room, already sitting in the lap of a scruffy man across the room who was kissing her neck. She widened her eyes, motioning for her to act as she was acting.

Rose gulped, then turned back to him and let a wry smile come to her face.

 _Touch him_. She took the smallest of steps, letting the tips of her fingers run up the length of his arm.

 _Say something._ It was as if her mouth became disjointed from her body, as she found herself saying seductively, "But I _could_ be the barmaid, if you wanted me to be..."

Though she had no idea where those words came from, she felt his arm muscles tense under her fingertips. "That won't be necessary," he said softly, leaning closer toward her. Rose saw him smile. She grabbed his shoulders and forced him to sit upright, then placed herself on his lap. When he wrapped his arms around her waist, Rose quickly shot a glance back at Angelica for further guidance. She caught glimpse of her just before she led her stumbling partner into another room through a door. Angelica nodded and winked at her as she closed the door.

"What's your name?" Rose heard the man say.

 _Don't tell the truth to the man you are about to deceive._ "Anna." Her mother's name jumped to her mind instantly.

"Lovely," he said.

"And what’s yours?" she whispered.

He whispered back, "Never you fret about that."

Rose put both of her hands around the back of his head and brought herself close to his face. _Those eyes...so clear but so...dead. Lifeless._ She let her smile drop as she made this grim observation. This wasn't an act. It stopped being an act for Rose somewhere in the past few interactions. Her heart was racing based on pure, pent up lust alone and nothing more.

She saw his eyes widen as he pulled her in for a kiss. Her first. She was rendered entirely breathless and pulled away soon after it began.

"See? No names necessary," he whispered, sending shivers up her spine.

The next few actions went by in a blur. He looked at Rose expectantly. When she didn't react, he took the first step. "Let's go elsewhere," he said, still suave but composed. He lifted her off of him and led her into a nearby room upstairs in the tavern, closing the door behind him.

That was when the panic set in. Rose’s sight was completely gone. All she saw was darkness, and she leapt when he touched her cheek.

"Hey," he murmured gently. "Don't be afraid. I won't harm you."

Rose gave another breathy laugh, and took in his scent as he began to kiss her again. From sound alone, she could tell exactly when and where he had placed his belt and valuables on the bed where they were. It was to her left. She felt his fingers run through her hair. Part of her wanted to just enjoy the passion of the moment, and in many ways, she had never felt so protected and secure. _This isn't love,_ she had to remind herself. _This is a game. He won't care that he met you tomorrow. Don't forget why you are here._ Yes! Rose had to buy the next leg of her freedom!

She reached to her left. She felt the leather of the strap that held his sword...his pistol...his...coin pouch! Her fingertips struggled to reach the bag and tie it loose. A little further...a little more...

Then? Disaster. Rose accidentally opened the bag, and shillings spilt across the wooden floor, clanging and crashing as they scattered. Everything stopped.

Suddenly, the click of a pistol. Rose felt the metal of the barrel against her jaw. "Get up!" his voice barked.

She was dead. He was undoubtedly going to kill her. Rose slowly pulled herself up, wiping the sweat from her forehead and readjusting her skirt. She knew the pistol was still aimed at her head, but she had no idea where he was. “Make one move, and you're dead!" he growled. She heard him pick up the coins with one hand and put them back in the bag, then sling the strap over his shoulder as it once was. Then, a sharp pain throbbed through her scalp as he yanked her hair and had the pistol at her throat again. "Who are you? Did they send you after me?”

Rose cried out in pain. "No! No! I'm sorry! It was my friend's idea! The other woman here tonight! We need passage onboard your ship to get out of here! She thought we could seduce two of you and buy our passage aboard!”

He threw her to the ground, and Rose, blind to her environment, dared not move. "You could never gain passage onboard my vessel," he yelled. She jumped when she heard him make a loud clanging noise upon slamming open the wooden window shutter in the room. When she didn’t respond, he shouted, "Rise and look at me!”

Rose did sit up, but she looked blankly ahead.

“Is this what you want?” he yelled.

Rose could only open her mouth several times, though no sound emerged.

“ANSWER ME!” he roared.

"I cannot," she said plaintively.

“Can’t what?”  
“I cannot look at you.”

"What are you talking abou—no. Nevermind! I don't care!" He stood and readied himself to leave. "Thank you for your company, _mademoiselle._ " He turned to go, muttering under his breath, "A common whore..."

"I AM NOT!" Rose yelled furiously, struggling to stand up. "You are the first man...the first I've ever—" She fell to the ground, swearing under her breath. "The first man I have ever been alone with! I’m a simple healer from the bayou, and I’ve never…done this before tonight,” she finished. "I am sorry."

Silence. The only reason that Rose knew he had not left was that she could still his breathing, which grew increasingly rapid. He grabbed the knob, yanking the door open. When her eyes adjusted to the light that spilled into the room, she expected to find him gone, her first passion to be a mere dream. Yet as she blinked and focused, Rose saw that he stood before her, mouth agape as he whispered, "Rose?"

She furrowed her brow. How did this man know her? "Yes?"

He approached her in silent wonder, then reached down and gingerly touched Jack's pendant which hung around her neck. He closed his fingers around it and stared directly into Rose’s eyes.

It hit her like a wave at high tide. Those sad, sad eyes. It had been so long. In just a decade, Rose had become a woman and he had become a man. Her eyes filled with tears of joy, as the first man she wanted to see when she once again rejoined civilization had been holding her in his arms all along.

She let a tear fall as she whispered, "Hello, Ben!"


	5. A Rigid Reunion

Rose grinned as Ben sat down beside her, placing two drinks before each of them. “Tia Dalma’s prophecy was right,” she said. “Fate led me here. Had I not listened to Angelica I never would have found you!”

He shook his head in amazement. “Was that the woman you were with? That was Angelica? ”

Rose nodded, gazing at her childhood friend. Beneath his haggard appearance, his wild hair and striking, serious demeanor, she could see the same kind eyes that shined at her, reassuring her that this was the same boy she once had held strong affections for.“Ten years have changed us both so much!” she said with a smile.

“My God,” Ben exclaimed. “Has it really been that long?”

"I've been with Tia all this time.” She looked at her companion in earnest, praying that he possessed the answer she was hoping he could deliver. “And…after all this time, have you been with Jack and the _Pearl_?" Perhaps her half-brother was closer than she thought.

He diverted his gaze as he muttered, "Well...yes and no…"

Rose swallowed her disappointment as she said calmly, “Where _are_ Jack and the _Pearl?_ ”

Narrowing his eyes, he replied, “Jack’s never come back to the bayou since the day we delivered Angelica?”

“No, not once.”

“But…I assumed that would be the first place he’d go. I mean, I always figured that he’d escape and then he’d go straight to you and Tia Dalma…”

Rose tried to keep the welling panic out of her voice as she said firmly, “Escape from where?”

Ben took a deep breath before he began. “I’m so sorry. I had no choice, I— I had to—“

“Had to _what?”_ she cried. “Good Lord, Ben! Speak!”

He tightened his jaw and gazed at her out of the corner of his eyes. “We marooned Jack on a deserted island.”

Rose felt her stomach drop. “When?”

Ben’s gaze averted so that he was now staring deep into his drink. “Not long after we left Angelica at the bayou.”

“So you mutinied against him.”

“Don’t do that!” he snapped. “Don’t just place the blame on me! We _all_ mutinied against him!”

“You didn’t have to, Ben! Jack was kind enough to let you aboard, even though it could have meant personal danger for him!”

“Don’t speak on what you know nothing about!” he growled darkly. “I had no choice! You have no idea what they did to Bootstrap for sticking up for Jack!”

Another pang hit Rose’s stomach. “Is he dead?”

Ben took a moment, then nodded sadly.

Rose pushed away her drink in silent fury. “So Bootstrap’s dead, and you’re a coward.”

“A coward?” Ben leaned away from Rose. “Do you have any idea what they would have done to _me_? I would have ended up the same way as Bootstrap!”

“How do we know that Jack is even still alive if you supposedly marooned him, Ben?” Rose snapped.

“Will you stop?” he pleaded. “Let me explain! My God, you leap all over me, accusing me of things you know nothing about!”

Rose pursed her lips, placing a hand under her chin and leaning her arm against the tabletop. “Explain, then.”

Ben began slowly. “After we left Angelica at the bayou, we waited for direction from Jack. He had promised us a route to some hidden treasure on an island called the Isla de Muerta, but then suddenly decided against leading us there. That was the final straw for Barbossa. He led the mutiny against Jack, and we left him on this little speck of land with only a pistol and a single shot.” He paused here, waiting for Rose to spit some furious language at him, but when she only stared with intense anger, he continued his tale. “Afterwards, we headed to the Isla de Muerta ourselves, each of us looting some of the treasure. As we set off once more, Bootstrap voiced his guilt having mutinied along with us. Barbossa took his life as punishment. However, when night fell, we discovered that the treasure was cursed, particularly a chest of Aztec medallions. We each returned our respective medallions, but it still wasn’t enough. The curse required a bit of our blood to break the curse and—“

“Good,” Rose interrupted, already two steps ahead of Ben’s story. “I’m glad. It’s what you all deserve, killing Bootstrap. He died with his medallion, didn’t he?”

“No,” said Ben quietly. “That’s what is so bizarre—we searched for months where we…where he died. We couldn’t even find his body, let alone a medallion. Up until recently, we thought it was lost forever, and that we would live with the curse forever, but then—“

“As you deserve!” Rose said again. “I can’t believe you would do this to your friends!” She shook her head. “I thought I knew you, Ben, but you’ve proven me completely wrong! I should have seen that when I last was with you.”

“And why do think I’m here now and not with the _Pearl_ as they continue their reign of terror across the seven seas?” he asked. “I left the crew over two years ago.”

Rose blinked in confusion. “Why…why didn’t you come to the bayou?”

“As I said, I thought Jack would have retrieved you years ago! And besides,” he said in between sips of his drink, “I didn’t want to face you for precisely the rift we currently find ourselves in. I went home.”

“Back to Tortuga?” Rose asked.

“Aye,” he responded. “But I was just as quickly turned away. My father wanted nothing to do with me, Josephine _never_ wanted anything to do with me… So I stole a small boat, and have lived the nomad’s life, trying to evade the _Pearl_ at all costs. If they find me, there will be hell to pay. I’d wish for a death that now life is too cruel to even grant me.”

Rose cocked her head to the side. “Come again?”

Ben snorted. “Be grateful for your night blindness, Rose. You can’t see what the curse did to us.” He lowered his voice so that only Rose could hear him. “Back in the room when I opened the shutters, I did so to scare you, thinking you could see my figure. By moonlight, we lose all flesh. We’re nothing but skeletons. We cannot die, can’t feel…anything.”

“My word,” Rose whispered. “That’s horrible. Have you tried searching for the missing medallion?”

“I know where it is,” he said simply.

“You…you do? Have you gone after it?”

“Not yet,” he retorted. “We had no way to track it until this morning. The medallion has made contact with the seas, and so it calls to us. I’ve felt it, and so has the rest of the _Pearl_ crew.”

Rose grinned. “‘The tides have turned’ after all! This is what Tia was waiting for!” She stood in excitement. “Then let’s go! Let’s retrieve it!”

“It’s not that simple,” said Ben darkly. “Even if I found it, it’s worthless without Bootstrap’s blood.”

Rose suddenly said in realization, “A son. Bootstrap told me once that he had a son slightly younger than us!” She placed a hand on Ben’s forearm. “All is not lost, we’ll find him!”

Ben pulled away. “He could be anywhere, even dead himself,” he glowered.

“What if Bootstrap sent his son the medallion unknowingly as a keepsake? The two could be in one place!”

“Rose, I’m not going after it!” Ben spat. “The medallion called to every single one of the cursed men. The _Pearl_ is the fastest ship in the Caribbean, and is most likely already at the medallion’s location as we speak. I’d much rather just wait out the storm. If Barbossa breaks the curse, so be it.”

“Surely you can’t be in earnest!” Rose cried. “If we go after the medallion, not only can we take matters into our own hands and try to free you ourselves, but also we could find Jack! If Jack truly is alive, he’ll be in search of the _Pearl_. If the _Pearl_ searches for the medallion, therefore wherever the medallion is, Jack will there also be!”

“And, as you said, so will the _Pearl_! I cannot take that chance, Rose!”

“So to sum this little reunion up,” Rose grumbled. “You wanted my body, I wanted your money, and then you proceeded to report to me that you betrayed everyone I love and have no idea where the man I’m supposed to find is. Not only that, but you seem _entirely_ at ease to wallow in your self-pity.” She snorted. “So glad I found you, Ben.”

She waited for him to refute anything, but when he only continued stewing on his own, she then turned to leave.

After she got a few paces away from the door to the tavern, however, Ben stood and called after her. “Jack is alive!”

She turned back. “And how would you possibly know that?”

Ben shrugged. “One hears things. Jack is infamous around these parts.” He looked over to the barkeep. “Hey, you!” he called.

The barkeep, who was red-faced, balding man, looked up from a conversation with a raven haired young lady. “What, then?”

“Have you heard of Jack Sparrow?”

The young woman giggled, taking a sip from her drink. “Oh, I certainly have!”

After giving a jealous glare to his female companion, the barkeep said to Ben, “Aye, last I heard he was found drinking rum with the natives of Madagascar.”

“Madagascar?” Rose asked in surprise.

The barkeep shrugged. “The man gets around.”

“Regardless,” Ben said, turning back to Rose. “Jack is well-known. It’s clear that he’s still alive and clearer to me that we can find him. And you’re right,” he said guiltily. “Where the medallion is, so Jack Sparrow will also certainly be.”

“Where is it calling from?” Rose asked.

“The North,” he said. “If we follow its call, I can lead us there. I’m thinking it must be somewhere near Port Royal, if not there entirely.”

The corners of Rose’s mouth turned upwards slightly into a small smile. “To Port Royal then, Mr. McHenry!”


	6. To Port Royal

Rose stood next to Ben, her heart aflutter.

“What do you see?” she asked. After Ben had grabbed his cloak, shielding himself from the cursed moonlight, led the blind Rose to his small dinghy, and was able to navigate them northward toward where he had felt the medallion’s call, it was the middle of the night. She could tell by Ben’s silence that something was awry.

She heard him remove his periscope from his eye and click it shut. “I don’t understand…” he muttered distantly.

“What?”

Ben only replied,“We’re here.”

Rose grinned. “That’s good then! Port Royal?”

“Or what’s left of it,” he replied sullenly.

Rose felt her heart drop. “The _Pearl_ was here, then.”

“And obviously found what it was looking for, because there’s not a sign of it other than what destruction the crew left behind.” Ben took a deep breath, then turned to face Rose. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “We’ve lost it. There’s nothing we can do.”

Rose was still optimistic, however. “All is not lost,” she said, sitting closer to him. “You still can feel the medallion’s call, correct?”

“Not unless the medallion makes contact with the ocean again. I’m completely in the dark. Even if I could track it, we could never catch them. I’m afraid we’re back where we started.”

Rose considered this, reevaluating this turn of events. “So we believe they took the medallion, otherwise they wouldn’t have left…but they also need Bootstrap’s son to break the curse. Do you think they have him?”

“Not sure,” he replied. “At this point, I think we should just wait. If the curse is broken, then so be it.”

Rose felt twinges of anger flare up inside her again at Ben’s eagerness to give up the fight, but instead she decided to focus on other matters. While Ben’s curse was important to her, Jack was still her priority and as of that moment, his whereabouts were still unknown. Was he also captured by the _Pearl_? Was he at that moment on Port Royal? Perhaps he was nowhere near them…Rose had no way of knowing. The only plan of action Rose could formulate was, “Why don’t we go ashore and see what the locals know of the medallion?”

Ben snorted. “Have you ever been to Port Royal, Rose? Or even _heard_ of it, for that matter?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“It’s a settlement run by the British Royal Navy has taken it over. A copious amount of noblemen and ladies live there.”

“…so?” asked Rose, still not following Ben’s train of thought.

“I don’t know, Rose,” Ben said sardonically. “Maybe the walking skeleton and the blind bayou girl would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the British elite!”

“Then we regroup at daybreak!” she continued. “We find calm waters, lay anchor and ask around when you and I are restored back to normal.”

Ben exhaled sharply in a slight laugh. “I forgot how rarely you let something go once you decide that it strikes your fancy.”

Rose gave a wry grin. “You started this,” she said. “Remember when we used to play Pirate as children? We always said we’d be battling ghost pirates aboard the _Black Pearl!_ ”

“Aye,” Ben said sadly, “But never did I envision actually _being_ the ghost pirate.”

Rose took this in for a moment, then moved her hand outwards to touch him comfortingly. However, when her fingertips touched Ben’s arm, she forgot that she wouldn’t feel warm flesh, but rather tough, solid bone. She quickly recoiled, then gave an apologetic look downwards. Finally, she said warmly, “Fear not, Ben the Buccaneer. You and Rose Hexfury shall always save the day!”

* * *

Port Royal by daylight was actually delightful to Rose, abhorrent destruction or otherwise. Besides Tortuga, Rose had never seen a thriving town, let alone a town so organized and proper. It was these sorts of buildings and these sorts of people that Rose had always envisioned in storybooks, and the adventure of it all excited her greatly.

Rose and Ben had straightened up a bit in order to disguise their pirate roots, but no one was all that concerned about their presence that day. Not even the dock manager was around to charge them a fair for anchoring Ben’s boat to the main dock. Everyone today was focused on yesterday’s pillaging. A number of fatalities had occurred, and the main town was absolutely ravaged. Broken glass littered the dirt roads, and all around men, women and children were beginning to regroup, reassess, and rebuild.

“One think I still don’t understand,” said Ben, disrupting Rose’s observations. “Jack never visited you once while you were in the bayou? You were the only person in his life that he knew he could trust and who would always be in the same place. Why didn’t he come for you?”

Rose shrugged, slightly annoyed by Ben’s accusations. “Tia wouldn’t have let me go with him regardless.”

“That’s not the point,” he protested. “Not even once did you find it odd that he never thought to visit you?”

“No,” she said simply, feeling herself start to retreat back into herself.

“In ten years…”

“I know, Ben,” Rose said sharply. “I don’t know his reasons. All I know is that I need to find him. His reasons can come after that moment.”

Ben nodded slightly in understanding as they silently continued to make their way through the wreckage of the once-pristine town, but what he had said bothered Rose greatly. Why _would_ Jack never think to go find her? What if he wanted nothing more to do with her? Could it be that—

“Jack Sparrow!” she heard a distant voice exclaim.

Rose perked up upon hearing her half-brother’s name spoken aloud. Afraid she was merely imagining it, she asked Ben, “Did you hear that?”

Ben, who hadn’t, replied, “What?”

But Rose had already started off in the direction of the voice, having heard its source continue speaking. She passed under a large stone facade and into another square where two middle aged couples stood, the two pairs conversing together.

“I wholeheartedly agree,” said the taller man. “It’s them ruddy bilge rats. One comes in, they all come in. Easy as that.”

The woman who stood by his side, presumably his wife, nodded obediently. “I just pity poor Miss Swann,” she said. “The lass didn’t do nothin’ ta deserve this.”

The woman adjacent to her murmured in agreement, “Poor dear must be scared to death.”

“Excuse me,” Rose said, approaching them. Ben quickly moved to stand at her side. “Did I hear one of you mention Jack Sparrow?”

“Aye,” said the other man amongst the group of four. “I reckoned it’s Sparrow’s doing what brought the lot of ‘em in here last night!”

“You’ll have to excuse us,” Ben spoke up politely. “We just got in this morning and are unaware of what has transpired.”

“Oh!” one of the ladies exclaimed. “Ye must be so confused, then! A whole band of blasted pirates came in here and tore the whole town apart!”

“Searching for valuables, I assume?” Ben slyly asked, subtlety suggesting the medallion to see if any of these townspeople were aware of the cursed treasure.

“Believe it or not,” the tall man said, “All we can prove they made off with is the Governor’s daughter, poor girl. God be with ‘er.”

The ladies nodded reverently, while the other man continued stating, “I said it once and I’ll say it again, it’s because Sparrow came to town. He was found accostin’ the Governor’s lass after she fell in the water yesterday mornin’, and all of a sudden she’s been taken by his ilk while he sits happily behind bars! Norrington ought to hang him straight off!”

“No!” Rose exclaimed instinctively, before her mind even had time to process that she should have remained absolutely silent at this comment.

Thankfully, Ben was quick to create an excuse for her outburst. “What she means is, a hanging is far too mild a punishment.”

The four townspeople nodded in agreement, then began discussing the proper ways in which to execute a pirate. Rose had stopped listening to their banter, realizing that the fact that Jack _was_ indeed here, on this island at the same time as she! Just a quick slip into the prison and they could be reunited after so many years apart!

Rose _did_ begin listening again once several dozen townspeople began racing past their group towards the docks.

The smaller of the men looked bewildered and called out to a passerby, “You there! What’s all the commotion about?”

“It’s Sparrow!” the man replied. “He and the blacksmith boy have just made off with the _Interceptor_!”

“He _escaped_?” the large man roared. “I knew that Turner lad was always shifty! Never trust a foundling, I always say!”

Ben took Rose by the arm and led her aside, apart from the rest of the townspeople. “Did you hear that?” he whispered to her.

“Yes!” she replied. Her head was spinning with the information they had received, all of it beneficial to them in some way or another. First, the only item that the _Black Pearl_ had made off with was the Governor’s daughter, who had the previous morning made contact with the ocean. These two clues made it clear that this young woman was somehow in possession of the medallion. Second, Bootstrap’s son was clearly an inhabitant of this island as well, and finally, Jack was nearby!

Rose and Ben exchanged a knowing look, then took off running towards the docks themselves. If Jack and Bootstrap’s son were in cahoots and currently in the process of stealing a ship, there was no chance that either Ben nor Rose would miss the chance to sail with them to break the curse, save the girl, and free the _Pearl._


	7. Blood in the Water

Ben and Rose followed the masses as they all raced toward the harbor. They had to stop when they hit the crowd, all gathered around to view the impending battle in the bay. It was chaotic. Spectators pushed and shoved, all trying to get a better view of the action. Since their own lives were not in danger as they were last night, the townsfolk all clamored to see who would end up victorious; the Island’s main defense, or a stolen ship armed by only two men.

Rose couldn’t see over the heads of the people in front of her, so she turned to Ben who was taller than she. Trying to keep the panic out of her voice, she asked, “Can you see anything?”

Ben squinted towards the horizon. “Barely,” he replied. “I see the two ships, but I can’t see Jack onboard either of them…” After a moment, he said softly, “Oh.”

“Oh?” Rose questioned.

“Now I see him.”

Her heart raced. She jumped up, trying to see over heads. “Where?”

“It’s no use,” Ben said. “I just…can clearly see that he’s onboard the ship which is rapidly escaping as we speak.”

“Did they make it?” Rose asked.

“Seems like it,” he replied. “What strikes me odd is that the _Dauntless_ hasn’t tried pursuing them. They’re floating off in the opposite direction!”

“Somethin’s wrong,” said a stranger who stood behind them, who had been listening to their speculations. “Not like the Commodore to watch his own ship be taken. Least of all by Sparrow. Sparrow and the blacksmith boy must’ve done somethin’ to the _Dauntless._ No other explanation.”

Ben nodded politely in acknowledgement of this man’s input and then took Rose by the arm to lead her away from the crowd.

“What are you doing? I want to stay here!” she said in outrage, struggling against his pull.

Through gritted teeth, Ben answered as he successfully yanked her away from the masses, “There are ears everywhere here. That man might have heard you rooting for Jack to get away, and then where would we be?”

“That doesn’t matter!” Rose scoffed. “We’ll be rid of this place shortly anyways!”

He narrowed his eyes. “Did you not just see Jack make off with the _Interceptor?_ ”

Rose pointed towards the bay where the _Dauntless_ was slowly approaching the docks. “And do _you_ not see that? When the _Dauntless_ arrives, it’ll be only a matter of hours before they’re off again to get Jack! Let’s go aboard! Just you and me! It’ll get us closer to him at the very least, and—“

“Are you mad?” Ben cut her off. “How do you expect us to simply go aboard a Navy ship? By asking politely?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Of course not! We’ll steal some clothes. I’ll look like a lady and we can make you look like one of the officers. Perhaps we need passage to a nearby island…”

Ben shook his head, and began walking away from the harbor up a road that led through town. “What Jack did was an act of war against the Crown. Not only did he escape imprisonment, but now he’s taken their prized vessel. They’d never let a woman aboard at a time like this!”

Rose had expected this, but was hopeful that perhaps Ben might agree with her vision. Instead, she tried, “Then we go as stowaways—“

“Rose, no! We’re staying here! That’s all we _can_ do!”

She scoffed again. “What do you mean, ‘all we can do?’ _You_ have a boat yourself! We can even go after them ourselves!”

“And lose them, and get lost ourselves, and hit a storm, and any number of things!”

“But you’ve been to the Isla de Muerta!”

“I don’t remember its location, and I won’t unless the medallion hits the sea once more!” he protested. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Rose. There’s nothing we can do to remedy this matter ourselves. We simply must lie in wait.”

Rose was flabbergasted. She couldn’t believe how listless Ben was willing to be. She stopped walking up the path they had been traversing, causing Ben to stop as well, “So, we wait and do what?”

“Think, Rose,” he said, growing closer to her. “Jack’s after the _Pearl._ The _Pearl_ is trying to lift the curse, and they took the Governor’s daughter. The Navy is after the girl and now Jack as well. No matter what happens, if the curse is lifted or not, if the girl is recovered or not, if Jack gets away or not, _someone_ from the Trading Company will surely return with news. And I’m certain that at the very least, the girl will be saved. If she returns unharmed, you and I can question her and then make a plan of attack from what we discover. I say we lay in waiting until that time comes.”

Rose felt as though a large rock had deposited itself in the pit of her stomach. She saw reason in Ben’s words, but had never intended on playing such a small role in finding her brother. There was nothing she could do, however. No matter how hard she fought, Ben was stubbornly rooted in his opinion. If Rose wanted to go after Jack, she would have to do it herself. While she wasn’t opposed to this, sadly, her life was severely in danger from sundown to sunrise if she made the journey herself. Rage burned inside her at this feeling of helplessness.

Finally, she submitted. “Alright. I’ll wait. But for how long?”

Ben shrugged. “How am I supposed to know that?”

“Well we had better make a plan if we are to live here! Certainly you don’t have enough silver in that little pouch of yours to pay for our living expenses!”

Ben grimaced, seeing the truth of her words, then silently walking further up the path as he tried to devise a solution to their problem. Rose joined him in the silent march, trying to envision a solution of her own.

After minutes like this, they both rounded a corner and then leapt back as a horse-drawn carriage nearly ran them down. A forlorn-looking man with a large wig peered out of the window apologetically as it raced by. Ben’s gaze followed the carriage as it drove away, then looked back from where it came from. Wordlessly, he continued up the path and through the gates of an ornate mansion, the likes of which Rose had never seen before.

“Ben?” she called in attempts to stop him. “Ben!” she tried again. When he still proceeded onward, she raced to catch up with him. “We can’t simply walk up to a house like this looking like we do!” she said breathlessly when she finally caught him.

Ben pointed towards the path. “Did you see that carriage?”

“How could I miss it?” said Rose sardonically.

“It came from here,” said Ben, motioning to the house where they currently were standing outside.

“What about it?”

“This is the Governor’s mansion, Rose. I’ll venture to say that that was the Governor himself racing out of here, and from the looks of that large trunk he had tied to it, he’s intending on going to find his daughter with the Navy. I think we found a solution to our residency problem.”

As he turned and continued up the steps to the front door, Rose said in a hushed voice, “But what about the Governor’s wife? She could still be inside.”

Ben drew his pistol and whispered, “I’ll take care of that, should that problem arise.”

“Ben, no!” she protested. “This is someone’s home! And we’re probably outnumbered. A house like this certainly has a staff to help run it!”

Ben laid a finger over his lips, motioning her to stay silent as he leaned against the door. Holding his pistol tightly, he quickly beat on the door. “Hello?” he called. He tried again after a few moments, but when there was still no answer, Ben quickly kicked in the door, causing it to swing back on its hinges.

Their eyes were both instantly drawn to a large bloodstain that had pooled and permanently damaged the wood flooring. “I don’t think the staff survived the night,” Ben responded gravely.

He took a step around the red stain, calling up the stairs, “Hello? Anyone there?” When no answer came, he made a quick dart up the stairs to investigate further.

Now alone, Rose took a moment to investigate the foyer which she now found herself in. She had never been in a place so elegant or grand. She carefully sidestepped some broken glass which still littered the floor. She gingerly touched the soft fabric of the curtains as she walked the perimeter of the elaborately decorated mansion, and stopped upon seeing a large painted portrait of a beautiful young woman. She had dark blonde hair and a sharply angular face. _This must be the Governor’s daughter_ , she thought.

She heard Ben approach after a few moments. “Seems to be all clear,” he reported. “No sign of a Mrs. Governor at all, actually.” He stopped, following Rose’s gaze to the portrait of the woman.

She snorted. “Pretty clear now as to why the entire British fleet is out to rescue her, eh?”

But Ben didn’t respond. His eyes were fixated upon a particular spot on the painting. “Ben?” Rose asked.

He lifted a finger and pointed at the necklace that hung around her neck. “That’s the medallion.”

Rose looked closer to where he was referring, but could only see a slight hint of a round pendant protruding from the top of her bodice. The rest appeared to have been intentionally concealed. “Are you certain?” she asked.

“I’d recognize that shape anywhere,” he replied. “She made contact with the ocean yesterday morning, and now we know for certain that she has it, but why would _she_ of all people have it?”

Rose nodded. “Barbossa must think she’s Bootstrap’s daughter, since she’s in possession of the medallion, but really, it’s Bootstrap’s actual son who is with Jack right now.”

Ben looked into her eyes somberly. “Let’s hope that the _Dauntless_ makes a quick recovery and sets sail soon,” he said. “Because when Barbossa discovers that the girl isn’t of Bootstrap’s blood…he _will_ kill her.”


	8. Duality

Waiting was tedious, but waiting with someone else was manageable. It had been three days. Rose and Ben had barricaded themselves in the servant’s quarters of the Governor’s mansion, creating a defensible space in case anyone decided to come check on the place in the absence of both the Governor and his daughter. Every afternoon, they would walk the town in silence, keeping their ears alert for any potential news about the whereabouts of the _Pearl,_ the _Interceptor,_ or the _Dauntless._ No news had surfaced in three days’ time. By evening, the two would return back inside before nightfall, the time when Rose would lose her eyesight and Ben would lose his skin.

On the fourth morning, Rose awoke from the servant’s cot which she had been using for her bed to find Ben trying in vain to light the fireplace.

Noticing her, he said humorously, “Aren’t you a witch? Can’t you simply snap your fingers and light this fire for me?”

Rose grinned. “I’m not that sort of witch, sadly,” she said. “That was Angelica’s domain. I merely play with plants.”

“A healer, then?”

“Aye.”

Ben turned his focus back to the fire. “What good are we?” he mused. “Neither of us can go out after dark, and neither of us can manage to light a fire!”

She laughed again. Ever since moving in to this home temporarily, Ben had been a delight to be around. She didn’t understand why he had been so difficult every moment since their reunion leading up to now. The only thing that she could attribute was the fact that now Ben was in an established domain—he felt comfortable and settled, and therefore could be at ease. While Rose felt very uncomfortable staying stationary while her brother sailed further and further away from her, she did at least appreciate this change in Ben’s demeanor. He even had begun to resemble the same happy boy that she had grown up with on Tortuga; The boy before the _Pearl_ changed him forever.

Rose swallowed her fear and dared approached the subject that had gone unspoken for so many years. “Ben?” she asked.

“Hmm?”

“What happened between us? I mean, all those years ago. We were the best of friends, and then you…changed.”

At this, Ben abandoned his efforts to light the fire and fully turned to face her. He took a deep breath. “I was young, Rose. We act rashly when we’re young.”

“But so was I!” she protested. “I held nothing but love for you. What did I do to possibly earn your scorn?”

Ben shook his head, eyes to the ground. “It was nothing you did. I needed to prove myself to the crew, which meant I couldn’t be a boy anymore. I had to be a man very suddenly.”

“So that means that the boy was allowed to love me, but the man can only hate me?”

Ben pursed his lips, taking a moment to consider this. He then looked into Rose’s eyes and said quietly, “As you can tell, there were many decisions I made that weren’t well thought out.”

Rose felt her heart race as she bravely asked, “And how are we feeling about me presently? Is it the boy or the man who is with me right now?”

He looked down again. “It’s not like that, Rose.”

“You don’t…resent me, do you?”

It took Ben a painfully long amount of time to answer her desperate question, but once he did, Rose still didn’t feel convinced of its sincerity. “Of course not,” he muttered in monotone. They stood in joint confusion for a brief moment, until Ben suddenly broke the tension with a cheery tone of voice once more. “Can I get you anything to eat from the pantry?”

Rose was eager to escape the dread she felt, and sarcastically replied, “To eat, you actually need _food_ , Ben. We ran out yesterday afternoon.”

“Did we?”

“Well,” Rose reasoned, “It’s unfair to say ‘ _we_ ate all the food,’ when really it was only me who did the deed. You don’t eat anymore, do you?”

Ben shook his head. “No need.”

“Honestly? You don’t have to eat or drink anything? Ever?”

He shrugged. “Can’t feel a thing.” A thought occurred to him and he suddenly pulled out his dagger, stabbing himself in his upper arm and pulling out the blade without even flinching.

Rose shrieked instinctively upon seeing the sudden act and came rushing to his side, certain that blood would come pouring out of the fresh wound. While the dagger’s blade was covered in his own blood, no blood escaped the cut.

“Remarkable,” Rose said, looking up at him. “But…shouldn’t I dress it? What about infection?”

Ben smiled, “Couldn’t catch infection even if I tried.”

“Can’t you feel anything?”

“Not at all!”

They both gave a small laugh, but Rose quickly grew serious upon realizing just how close she was to him. She could feel his warmth, and that familiar longing from the past of wanting to be this close to him forever.

Rose let the words slip from her mouth, though she was uncertain of what corner of her mind the boldness came from as she whispered, “Did you feel anything that night on Shipwreck Island? When you didn’t know it was me?”

Ben opened and closed his mouth several times, as though he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words to express how he felt.

Rose filled the silence herself with another bold question. “Do…do you feel anything _now?_ ”

It is uncertain of who initiated the action which resulted in the two of them drawing incredibly close to one another, but all that I know for certain is that the moment did not end the way the way Rose wished that it would.

Ben quietly muttered, “I have to get this fire going,” and proceeded to pull away from Rose entirely.

Rose quickly shook off the moment as well and tried very hard to move along with as little awkwardness as possible, as she said, “Yes. And I need to find food!”

“Here,” Ben said, untying the small leather pouch which contained his silver that Rose had tried to steal from him less than a week ago. “Take this. It should pay for whatever you need.”

“Are you sure?”

“Certainly.”

The silence grew stiff between them once more as Ben handed the pouch over to Rose, until they both once again were filled with energy and nearly sprinted to complete their respective duties, trying in vain to escape the tension that had filled that small kitchen in only the very last few minutes.

* * *

Rose was notably absent for far longer than she normally would have. She needed to take the time to sort out her feelings regarding Ben before she allowed herself to return to their shared quarters. She knew it was very sudden, and probably provided a difficult position for Ben to be in, but ultimately, she resorted to being completely candid with him. Tonight, he would know about how she had always felt about him once and for all. There was no doubt in her mind that from childhood to now, her affections had remained relatively unchanged. Now Ben was all hers. Curse or otherwise, she was willing to stay with him as long as she had to. However, the notion of Ben not sharing her affections was terrifying enough to nearly petrify her into eternal silence. Rose had only felt love for one man, and it was the one and only man in her life that she was unrelated to. A part of her was frightened that this was the only reason that she felt attraction for Ben—simply a lack of options. 

 _No,_ she decided firmly. _We’ve overcome so much together. This is right. I_ know _that this is right._

As the sun set and her vision grew faint, she entered the mansion through the servant entrance around the back, arms heavy with supplies that she had acquired. As she approached the door to the kitchen, she took a deep breath, scrounging up all of the bravery she could muster, and pulled open the door. Her heart sank upon seeing her friend. He was leaning haphazardly against the wall, taking a large swig out of a bottle of rum.

Rose kept her voice cheery as she commented, “I see you finally got the fire lit! …and that you found the wine cellar as well…”

Ben didn’t reply, and only stared deeply into the raging fire he had built.

“Why do you do this?” she asked, lips pursed. “You can’t feel pleasure, you can’t feel pain, then why even bother with the drink?”

Ben sleepily blinked, moving his gaze over to her. “Because at least this amount of numbness,” he said referring to the bottle, “I can control.”

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, taking the food she had accumulated over to the end table and starting to unpack it. Ben rose to his feet and shuffled over to her, grabbing her harshly by the forearm and pulling her towards him. She gasped upon being so roughly handled, and tried to pull away.

“Ben, you’re hurting me,” she said, her eyes averted downwards.

“Mmm?” he responded.

“Ben, please!”

“Enjoy the pain. You don’t know how much you miss it until it’s gone.”

Rose inched away from the stench of his rum-flavored breath. His grip on her arm only tightened, causing Rose to cry out in pain.

“That hurt?” he asked darkly. “Well, you’ve hurt me. I’m merely returning the favor.”

“Stop it! You don’t know what you’re saying!” Rose pleaded.

“Don’t I? _You_ did this to me!”  
Rose was actively struggling now to pry herself loose from Ben’s ever-tightening grip. “What? I—“

“If it weren’t for your bloody insistence that I go with you aboard the bloody _Pearl,_ I would be alive. I’d be _happy!_ ”

Were it not for the very real pain she felt, Rose would have thought that she was simply in a nightmare. That was how unbelievable this transformation in Ben was. She was completely unprepared for this attack.

He finally released her and stalked away back to his corner, mumbling curses beneath his breath. Rose could only make out the word, “mistake.”

“I asked you if you resented me and you said that you didn’t! Why did you lie if this is how you truly feel?” she spat.

“Because I knew you’d destroy yourself over it,” he said with a slur. “But then I realized that I wanted you to live with even an ounce of the pain I feel. Maybe then you’d understand what you caused.”

His gaze returned returned to the fire once more, and with that, his drunken rant was completed, and Rose felt adequately eviscerated.

She calmly walked into her makeshift room and slid down the wall until she could hug her knees into her chest and hold what felt like the broken pieces of her heart in place for the time being. No one ever could have anticipated Ben’s duality, but Rose discovered just what the additive of alcohol did to Ben; It allowed the truth to leak out of him, uninhibited and uncensored. It scared her to death. She truly had no idea who the man she had convinced herself that she loved was, nor the man who she promised to help.

With Ben, she was utterly alone.

* * *

Ben’s sharp scream awoke her from the uneasy sleep she finally managed to attain. Darkness had fully descended, so it took a moment for Rose to get her bearings and make her way by touch out to the kitchen where Ben was writhing in pain by the dying fire. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, temporarily forgetting the horrible moment that they had shared only a few hours prior.

Although the fire provided barely enough light for her eyesight to pick any visuals up, she could clearly see the blood pouring out of the wound on Ben’s bicep that he had made earlier that day. She immediately tore a piece of her skirt off to use as a bandage, and rapidly reached for the herbs in her pouch to apply a poultice that could slow the bleeding. She came close to him to begin her work, but Ben stood before she had a chance to do so and made his way to a nearby window. He threw open the shutters and let the moonlight fall upon his skin. He began to laugh in pure, unadulterated joy when his skin remained just as it should have been, and did not transform into bone.

He looked at Rose and murmured, “Turner. He broke the curse!”


	9. Familiar Faces

“How’s the pain?” Rose asked.

“Ugh,” Ben moaned, holding his bandaged arm up over his eyes to block the sunlight. “Horrible. Can’t you give me any more of that…whatever you call it?”

“I’m out of feverfew,” she said stiffly. “I’ll look for more while we’re out here.” Rose didn’t mean this. She had plenty of feverfew in her herb pouch, but she was keeping it from Ben for two main reasons; First, feverfew was hard to come by in these areas, and Rose knew that Ben would be experiencing residual pain over the next few weeks now that the Aztec curse was broken. She would need to ration his intake. Additionally, and on a more personal note, Rose hoped that she could use his pain as punishment. She was still incredibly hurt both physically and emotionally by Ben’s terrifying words and actions the night before after he spent the evening consuming too much rum.

The worst part about all of this was that Ben had absolutely no recollection of what he had done or said during his rampage. Rose had asked him in the morning if there was anything further that he wanted to discuss, and he replied with utter bewilderment, “What is there to discuss?” That’s when Rose decided to internalize what had happened. Ben had two sides to him; the man she loved, and the man she feared. And despite all of it, she _still_ loved that side of him. She would stay by his side for the time being, especially in his time of great physical pain, but now she was wiser. She felt ready to set off on her own the next time things between her and Ben got dangerous. Ben was never a part of Tia Dalma’s prophecy—only Rose herself. She needed to find Jack, with or without Ben.

She had taken Ben outside that afternoon, thinking that the sun would be good for him, but he had only managed to complain the entire journey. Something was particularly odd about the town at that moment, however; It was completely deserted.

“Where is everyone?” she asked, mostly to no one.

Ben took his arm down from his eyes and squinted. “Indeed. Is there an event in the square today?”

Suddenly, the answer came to them at the same time. They looked at each other knowingly, then took off running towards the docks. They could hear the crowds before they saw them, and they saw the sails of the _Dauntless_ before they saw the crowds. Rose could barely breathe she was so full of anticipation.

She could deduce several things about what had transpired over the past few days; Bootstrap’s son had somehow reunited with the lost medallion and successfully returned the gold with his blood upon it to the cursed chest. The _Dauntless_ had returned, although it was unclear what they had successfully accomplished.

Rose and Ben pushed their way to the front of the crowd, which was being held back from mobbing the docks by the presence of several red-coated Navy officials.

That’s when she saw him—past the several dozen armed officers, past the several dozen more filthy pirate scum from the original cursed _Pearl_ crew, Rose saw a man who appeared to not have aged in nearly a decade. She saw the same kohl-rimmed eyes, the same long hair… Rose saw her half-brother for the first time in ten years.

Her heart began to race and she pushed past the barricading guards and started quickly walking towards where the armed guards were briskly marching Jack up to the fort in shackles.

“Rose?” she barely heard Ben say behind her as she continued walking towards the men in a nearly trance-like state.

Faster she walked, soon having to increase her pace to keep up with them. She no longer cared about concealing her identity; This was her half-brother, and she didn’t realize just how much she missed him until seeing him once more. “Jack!” she called.

Upon hearing her call, Jack looked wildly around, trying to find the source of the voice. She called out to him again and this time he locked eyes with her. Though it was for but a moment, Rose felt their gaze lasted for hours. His eyes were narrowed in confusion, trying to place where he knew her face from, while hers sparkled in silent satisfaction at finally having seen her sibling once more. The moment was quickly cut off, however, by—

“Rose! Look out!” Ben yelled.

The next thing Rose knew, she was face to face with a rearing horse and fell backwards in astonishment. She took cover, but quickly rolled away from the frightened beast. When she finally looked around her, she saw that the spooked horse was pulling a large carriage. Rose unknowingly had stepped into the middle of a road in order to get to Jack, and had accidentally stopped moving once their eyes had met. The horseman of the carriage had not seen her, and had ordered the poor animal to continue moving onwards, causing a collision.

When Rose fell, her elbow made rough contact with the gravel road, and sat she quickly sat up to rub the dull ache in her joint all while wildly searching for Jack once again. But it was too late—the guards had continued to lead him away up the hill and into the fort.

She hadn’t noticed the door of the carriage swing open and a young woman emerge until she was standing over Rose, her hand on her shoulder.

“You poor thing! Are you alright?” she asked. Rose looked up at the girl, whose appearance confused her. She was very beautiful, with a slender, angular face and dark blonde hair. She held an air of authority, but wore a Navy uniform, something no woman _ever_ wore. Suddenly, Rose realized where she knew this face from! It was the same face from the portrait hanging in the mansion; this was the Governor’s daughter.

A tall, wigged man was quick to follow her out of the carriage. “Elizabeth!” his deep voice yelled to the Governor’s daughter. He came to her side and said under his breath to her, “Please get back to the coach. Your appearance is causing a scene!”

Elizabeth only rolled her eyes and pulled away from this man. “Honestly, James!” she cried. “We nearly ran this poor girl over and you’re doing nothing to help her!”

The man clenched his jaw and begrudgingly leaned over to help Rose up, though he only made things worse by yanking her into a standing position by the same arm as her hurt elbow. She winced in pain as she was jettisoned upwards and came within inches of the man’s face.

He stared down at her domineeringly. “Perhaps next time you’ll take heed before walking directly in front of a Commodore’s coach,” he sneered.

Just at this moment, Ben caught up to them, breathlessly asking Rose, “Are you alright?”

The Commodore, still holding Rose by her forearm, turned to Ben. “Does this belong to you?” he asked, referring to Rose.

Ben rushed to her side, pulling Rose away from him. “Aye, sir,” he replied. “My apologies! We’ll be on our way now.”

The Commodore raised his eyebrows. “See that you do. In the meantime, learn to control your woman.”

Rose’s face became flushed in fury, but her eyes met Elizabeth’s sympathetic pair. The gaze was broken once yet another person joined in the conversation.

“Is everything alright here?” the newcomer asked. Rose looked to him. He was a handsome young man, slightly younger than herself, with long dark hair that was tied back and a face she vaguely remembered…

Elizabeth suddenly grew very stiff and cold to the man, stating simply, “Yes. We have this all under control, thank you.”

The Commodore’s eyes glinted in amusement as he took Elizabeth by the arm and led her back into the carriage. Moments later, they were off again, leaving a thick cloud of dust in their trail.

Ben began to lead Rose away from the road, though Rose remained fixated on the now tiny figures of the officers and the pirate prisoners being led away to their stony prisons.

“Are you insane?” Ben whispered to her, breaking her concentration. “You caused us undue attention!”

“It was Jack, Ben! Didn’t you see him?” she asked. “He looked right at me!”

“Of course I did!” he replied. “That doesn't mean that you get to simply just go galavanting off in front of a coach!”

Their quarrel was interrupted by a voice that called our behind them. “You there!” he cried.

Ben and Rose looked back behind them. The young man who had just joined in the confrontation at the carriage had rushed to catch up with them as they fled the scene.

The man addressed Rose as he said, “You. You recognized Jack. I saw you see him!”

Rose exchanged a nervous glance with Ben and quickly lied, “No sir, I think I mistook him for someone else.”

The man drew close to them and said quietly under his breath, “There’s no need for alarm. I’m a friend. My name is Will Turner, and I’m going to help Jack.”


	10. Plans for Tomorrow

“James Norrington,” Will Turner said to Rose. “That’s the name of the Commodore you encountered this afternoon. He’s an enemy to pirate-kind and has sent orders for Jack to be executed at dawn tomorrow.”

“What a wretched man,” said Rose. "And the woman he was with? The Governor's daughter?"

"His intended," he replied bitterly. "They're very much engaged to be married."

"The Pirates onboard the _Pearl_ made off with her, correct?" Ben asked.

"Aye. She possessed the missing medallion. She took it from me when we were children, and the pirates mistook her for a Turner. They needed Turner blood, you see, to—" Suddenly, Will stopped. Standing erect. "How much do you know of Isla de Muerta?" he asked them.

"All too much," Ben replied with a snort. "I was a mutineer."

Will narrowed his eyes, “But…how did you escape?"

"Years ago. Been living out the curse in solitude until recently," he said, casting a look at Rose, which Rose purposefully didn't return.

Will followed Ben's gaze and asked Rose, "And you? Also a mutineer?"

Rose paused before answering him, recalling Jack's advice from many years back never to tell anyone how they were related. That information could easily be used against her, as Jack's enemies were vast and varied. She carefully answered Will, "Jack's survival is in my best interests."

Will narrowed his eyes distrustfully and edged closer to her. "That could mean a great many things when it comes to Jack. You could wish to free him merely to kill him yourself, for instance."

"Do you think me a woman scorned?" Rose smirked.

"There must be some reason why you would walk in front of a moving carriage to get to Jack..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Turner," Rose said simply, "You're going to have to trust that my intentions are pure."

Will gave a small laugh, then continued marching up the bluff. Rose and Ben, confused as to if this meant they should follow him, exchanged a glance and raced to catch up with him regardless. Will stopped once he reached the top, and extended his arm out toward the horizon once they caught up with him. "No," he said. " _They'll_ have to trust that your intentions are pure."

Rose followed his arm to where he was motioning, then all breath left her body when she saw it. Sailing towards the island in the car distance was a small, black speck, but Rose was no fool. She knew how large and terrifying the vessel was up close. She knew because she had spent years of her childhood searching for this ship every day only to be met with disappointment. The sensation of pure elation she felt then when she finally saw its presence grace Tortuga's docks was comparable to the joy she felt now. The _Black Pearl_ , in all its glory, was sailing for Port Royal.

Rose turned to Ben to share in the elation, but Ben looked terrified. Quickly, he asked Will, "If the curse on the _Pearl_ is broken, who's captaining her?”

“Worry not,” Will said. “With my blood and Jack’s bullet, we killed Barbossa.”

Rose was floored. “He’s dead? For certain?”

Will nodded. “For good.”  Turning to Ben, he continued. "For the time being, the acting Captain is Joshamee Gibbs. Do you know him?" Both Rose and Ben shook their heads. "He's a good man," Will corroborated. "Jack has trusted him with being his first mate."

"And the rest of the crew?" asked Ben.

"A ragtag group we picked up in Tortuga. A bit unorthodox, I'll admit, but they're loyal enough."

"So how can we help you free Jack, Mr. Turner?" Rose asked.

Will paused a moment, considering this. "You won't," he finally said. "I was able to communicate with Gibbs before we departed Isla de Muerta. They will skirt the island until daybreak, in which they'll approach so they can pick up Jack. I suggest that you make your move then as well and escape. That's the best I can offer."

Rose was surprised by this. "No, you misunderstand. That is very generous of you, but we wish to help you free him. What's the plan?"

Will smiled good-naturedly. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep that information to myself."

Suddenly, Rose understood. Will had learned from Jack, much as she had, to never trust a pirate. She nodded, but said, ”I need reassurance that you will succeed in freeing him."

Will motioned to a palm tree behind them. Pointing, he said, "Do you see that knot in the tree?" Rose nodded, and before she could blink, Will's cutlass was jettisoned from its sheath and lodged directly into the center of its target.

Will grinned proudly, “How’s that for reassurance?”

Rose nodded, smiling, “That’ll do.”

"Er... Will?" Ben's voice asked uncertainly from behind them. They turned to see what he was referring to; A parrot flying rapidly towards them from the direction of the _Pearl_.

"Ah, yes," Will said expectantly. Once the bird finally arrived, Will extended an arm out for it to land and perch upon. "What news?" Will asked it.

"RAW. Batten down the hatches!” it cried in response.

Rose, with eyes wide at this multitalented stranger, asked, “It's saying to…prepare for a storm?”

Will laughed. "Cotton, one of our men, has this parrot speak for him, and his vocabulary is limited. Using him is how I was able to communicate the plan to Gibbs as we sailed for Port Royal," turning to Cotton's parrot, he said, "All is ready, and expect two more passengers."

The parrot squawked and flew off once again, presumably to deliver the news back to The _Pearl_ ’s crew. 

Will’s gaze followed the bird as it flew back to its destination, saying to Ben and Rose, “I would hijack a rowboat if I were you. Make off for the _Pearl_ either tonight or tomorrow morning. Do you have a place to stay overnight?”

Ben spoke up. “We already have a boat, but…we don’t have a place to stay anymore…”

Suddenly, Rose realized the truth in this statement. Now that the Governor and Elizabeth were back on the island, they quite clearly couldn’t remain as stowaways in their pantry. She looked to Ben in concern. “If we make off tonight,” she asked, “Would you be strong enough to row?”

He examined how far off the _Pearl_ was from the island, then shook his head in dismay. “I could most likely make half the trip, but no more than that.” 

To Will, Rose explained, “Ben’s weak from the toll the curse took on him, and I cannot see in dark. We seem to be in a quandary.” She turned to Ben with a new thought. “Unless I row and you direct me…”

“No no,” Will interrupted. “Just depart at first dawn. The _Pearl_ will be closer and you both will have strength and sight restored. I can offer you a place at my blacksmith shop for the night. I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do, as it is my place of employment.” Rose grinned, extending a hand to Will and shaking his. “We’re in business then, Mr. Turner!”

* * *

Will had walked Rose and Ben into town and to his blacksmith shop. As Will had left his job without any prior notice to rescue Elizabeth, he had quite a bit of explaining to give to his employer to account for his absence and offering residence to two new faces. Will’s employer, however, seemed to be a bit of a drunkard and did not stay lucid for long, thereby allowing permission for them to stay the night. Will asked Ben and Rose to surrender their weapons, as was only fair seeing as he did not know either of them well, and provided them shelter in the barn. 

“It’s not much,” Will had said, “But will it do for just a night?” Rose and Ben accepted gratefully, and with that, Will returned to the shop to tie up some odds and ends that were left over from the time before Elizabeth had been kidnapped.

Rose and Ben settled into their new habitat silently, Ben forming a place for them to sleep and Rose refastening the buckles on her belt to ensure that all of her herbs stayed in place throughout the voyage in the morning.”

After awhile, Rose’s anxious thoughts at the notion of seeing Jack once more took over. “I have no idea where I'm going to go," she said absentmindedly, unaware that she had voiced her concerns out loud.

“What do you mean?” asked Ben quietly.

Rose gulped. “I mean my future. When I find Jack and fulfill the prophecy, then what? This has been my only thought for months now. Now that it's almost here...then what?"

Silence for a moment. Ben then answered, "You could stay with me."

Rose sharply turned to look at him, brow furrowed. “What?”

“Once we see him, what’s say you and I go off together?”

She shook her head. “Where?”

“Anywhere! Does it matter?”

Rose pursed her lips, struggling to find the right words between the internal fight she was having with herself. “But…the other half of the prophecy was to ‘keep him safe.’ I must stay with Jack!”

“Jack has been fine on his own for how many years now?” he protested. “He can go on surviving without you!”

Her jaw tightened. “I don’t think I can,” she whispered. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Ben snorted, shaking his head. Though incredulous, his tone was still kind as he said, “And you’re still so certain that Jack even wants you aboard?”

A pang of fear pulsed through Rose, as she had been trying deeply to push aside the notion that Jack had never truly intended to keep his promise to her. “Is it Jack’s wrath that you fear?” she asked him, deflecting from this thought. “I’m his sister, I can ensure that he will bear you no malice for the past!”

Ben pursed his lips. “No. I fear losing _you.”_ He moved closer to her side, looking directly into her eyes. “Every moment I have ever spent with you, you have been dead set on finding your brother. When you both are reunited, you’ll have no further use for me, I know this.”

“Of course not! Ben, you mean more to me than just a means by which I find Jack! This is a prophecy I _must_ fulfill, you must understand!”

His gaze dropped from her face, and he slowly nodded in understanding. After a moment in silence, he murmured, “Do you reckon it would cause any trouble for you if the _Pearl_ received one passenger instead of the two that Will reported?”

Her mouth fell ajar. “Ben, stop this! Why…why can’t we be together on the sea?”

He took a deep breath. “All I ever wanted was to live a life of adventure. I got all of that and far more than I ever bargained for. Now I have been granted a second chance to live with a _purpose._ You cannot simply think that us finding each other once more was chance! It was fate; Together, we have a chance to live happily, free from danger, free from uncertainty… free from the sea. Please!”

She reached her hand out to grasp his. Her heart felt heavy from the conflict she felt. Ben was offering her an ultimatum; It was him or Jack. She could not have both. But Ben did not understand that this choice was far more difficult than merely her saying aloud one of their names. All of her life, Rose had wanted two things; To sail with her brother and to have the love of Ben. One without the other was nearly unfathomable to her.

But then again…there was only one thing that made her decision easier. As she looked into Ben’s eyes, the love inside of them suddenly changed into the malevolent pair that stared at her the night before, when Ben physically and emotionally abused her, yet appeared to have no recollection of those deeds at dawn’s light. Jack had never performed an action that would deliberately cause her harm, whereas Ben _had_. She wondered if she could ever fully trust Ben again.

She spoke carefully, pleading one final time with Ben. “You’re right. It wasn’t simply chance that that we were united again. You have been granted the opportunity to live the life you wanted back then _and_ the life you want now if you come with me.”

Ben pulled his hand slowly from underneath Rose’s. “So…you’re going to leave then?”

“Aye.”

He nodded slowly, then stood.

“Where are you going?” Rose asked.

“To tell Turner that only one passenger will be going aboard in the morning,” Ben murmured quietly. With that, he turned and left the room.

Rose collapsed her head into her hands, feeling deep regret. The only thing that reassured her of the decision she had made was knowing that she could survive without Ben. She was not so certain that Jack could survive without _her_ , however _._


	11. Bring Me That Horizon

The nightmare awakened Rose once again, yet she opened her eyes to darkness. She had to pat her side to make certain that she still wasn’t asleep. The utter blindness revealed to her that it was still the dead of night, and that she hadn’t been asleep long. She had managed to doze off before Ben had returned from telling Will that he would not be accompanying her on the _Pearl_ come the morning light. She listened for a few minutes to the gentle inhaling and exhaling of her treasured friend, holding fast to the last few moments she had with him. She stayed like that for not even she knew how long. She stirred, however, upon catching sight of a flickering light in the distance. She pushed herself up and made her way haphazardly towards the source of the light. The light was coming from behind the doorway that led to the heart of the blacksmith shop. She pushed the door open completely and allowed her eyes to completely adjust to the light, then smiled when she saw Will seated at his desk, illuminated by candlelight.

“I see that you couldn’t sleep for long either,” she said.

He gave a slight laugh. “Correction, I couldn’t sleep _at all._ ”

She walked towards him and leaned against the desk. “Anticipation for tomorrow has kept us both awake, it seems.”

He nodded. “Aye. There is a lot at stake tomorrow for both of us. And I…haven’t really considered every possible outcome until just now.”

His uncertainty was causing Rose some slight panic. It was his carefree attitude and steadfast assuredness that he had demonstrated earlier that afternoon that had given her the faith that he could pull off Jack’s rescue mission. Tentatively, she said, “You’ll succeed in saving Jack, I’m sure of it!”

“Oh I know that,” he replied, sending waves of relief surging through Rose. “I just meant _me._ I never considered what this would mean for me, or what could happen because of my actions.”

“Well surely you’ll joining us aboard the _Pearl_ once you’ve succeeded in freeing Jack!” Rose said optimistically. When Will only stared deeply into the flames of the flickering candle wicks, suddenly it hit her. “Oh I see,” she said softly. “You don’t expect to be free yourself once the deed has been done.”

Will grimaced. “I don’t expect Norrington to _permit_ my freedom. Especially given…other circumstances that put us at odds against one another.”

It took a moment for Rose to understand his meaning, but once she did, it was clear as a cloudless day; The chilled atmosphere when Will had intervened between Rose and Elizabeth in the town that morning, the resentment in his voice when he mentioned that Elizabeth and the Commodore were to be married…

“Elizabeth,” she said. “You and the Commodore both share affections for her. That’s why you went after her with Jack in the first place!” Will looked down in slight embarrassment, but could not hide his slight grin of prideat his own act of courage. Rose grinned,“Very romantic. Is _that_ why you’re so gallantly rescuing Jack? To win her over for good?”

“No,” he quickly replied. Then he stopped, reconsidering his response. He proceeded to correct himself, stating, “Yes, partly. But mostly, I…I’m not sure what changed my mind. I once loathed pirate-kind, and I used Jack to help me rescue Elizabeth, nothing more. But something has since changed my mind about them.”

Rose leaned closer towards him, debating whether or not to say what she was thinking. Carefully, she finally asked, “Did…surely you knew about your father…”

Will looked up at her. “That he himself was a pirate? Yes, I've been informed.” He took a deep breath then gave a pensive smile. “I've come to accept that piracy is in my blood within the past few days. It would appear that being a pirate and a good man doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.”

Rose shook her head. “Your father was both,” she corroborated. “I can attest to that.”

“You knew him as well?” he asked. “My word. I've gone my whole life completely without a father, only to be surrounded by people who knew him well in just the past few days.”

Rose smiled. “From what I can tell of your merits so far,” she said, “He would be incredibly proud to call you his son.” Though she was certain of this, she was still confused by his motives. “However, and I mean this with all due respect, but I’ve been around long enough to know that nothing comes free. No one does anything for anyone else without wanting something out of it for themselves. So what are you getting out of this? You aren’t expecting to win the heart of the Governor’s daughter, and you could face a death sentence yourself. Why make such a sacrifice free of charge?”

“Jack helped me. I owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Rose smirked. “I know Jack, and you owe him _nothing._ He only helped you because there was something for _him_ to get out of it himself.”

Will took a deep breath, considering this. “Then, I suppose, I’m doing it because it doesn’t seem just. Of all the pirates that I encountered in the past few days, Jack is the least deserving of a death sentence.”

Rose smiled warmly. “Thank you, Will. I have perfect faith in you.”

She moved to return back to where Ben was, leaving Will to continue preparing for the important day ahead of them, but his voice stopped her, stating, “Hold on a moment. You’ve sailed with both Jack and my father…you still haven’t told me who you are or what your business with Jack is.”  
“Nor shall I,” Rose said with a smile. “Busy yourself with the plan, Mr. Turner.”

He grinned and nodded a brief goodbye. Right before she was plunged back into darkness, she left him with one final thought; “And make sure you make a grand declaration of love for your intended before the real danger begins. She can’t refuse you then!”

* * *

“You’re sure you can manage this? You can see?” Will asked with concern.

Rose peered into the horizon. The sun was just about to rise, but was as of yet in that hazy, light blue stage that made the air grow ever more still, ever more frigid.

“I can’t make anything out in the far distance, but I have a compass on me,” she reported. “They’re headed for the island due East, correct?”

“Aye,” Ben said, therein uttering the first word he had said to her that day. She swallowed back her resentment and merely nodded.

“I had best be off then,” Will chirped, eyes wide with adrenaline. She could barely make out his silhouette, but she could tell that he had donned a large feathered hat, and she couldn’t help but smile that he had taken her advice and was prepared to do the utmost to impress Elizabeth.

“Best of luck to you,” she wished. “If you do run into danger, please find some way to signal the _Pearl._ We can find some means of aiding you both.”

There was some hesitation in Will’s voice as he said simply, “We’ll see.” He then backed away and began making his way up the hill leading back into town. Rose was left alone with Ben, and the tension between them was colder than the morning sea breeze.

Finally, she decided to be the bigger person and speak first. “See to it that he succeeds,” she said sharply. Ben murmured in affirmation, then moved to give her boat a push away from the shore. As he leaned down, Rose silently wished that he would change his mind and would leap into the boat to continue their journey together.

But before she knew it, he had given the boat a good shove, sending it into the gently lapping waves. Rose dipped her oars into the water and began rowing away from the sunrise, right where the _Pearl_ would be headed right for the island.

Ben didn’t even wish her well, nor said his goodbyes.

* * *

The sun was nearly completely up by the time she had met the _Black Pearl_ a few leagues away from the island. 

“Come about!” she heard a voice yell from the deck of the tall looming ship. Even though danger lied ahead, Rose couldn’t help but feel giddy with excitement over seeing her brother’s ship once more in all its glory.

Before she knew it, someone had slid down a rope and landed surefooted into the boat beside her. To Rose’s surprise, it was a woman! She was a beautiful, but stern-looking.

“You’re expected,” she barked loudly.

“…aye…” Rose stammered, taken aback by this aggressive stranger.

Taking the rope she had just slid down, this girl took the end and began to fasten it to one end of the rowboat. “Don’t just sit there!” she commanded, motioning to another rope that had been dropped nearby. “Take that and follow my lead.”

Still a bit uncertain, Rose fumbled to keep up with this woman, who was obviously very skilled on the water. She looked over her shoulder to examine Rose’s handiwork and exhaled in exasperation.

“Give me that!” she cried, yanking the rope out of her hands and retying it herself. “If you didn’t know we’re in a bit of a rush, and your inexperience certainly isn’t helping matters!”

“Then leave it behind,” Rose suggested. “It’ll only slow us down anyways.”

“Nay,” the woman protested, putting the finishing touch on her knot and giving the line a firm yank to signal those hoisting the rowboat from above on deck. “The mutineers managed to somehow lose all of their longboats. We’ll take what we can get!”

Rose took hold to steady herself as the boat began to steadily lift out of the water and hover a few lengths away from the side of the ship. In their suddenly still silence, Rose extended a hand to her new acquaintance.

“Rose Hexfury,” she introduced herself. “What’s your name?”

“Anamaria,” replied she, briefly squeezing Rose’s outstretched hand, then returning her attention fully on the action from above.

Anamaria helped Rose climb out of the boat and onto the _Pearl’s_ deck, where all crew mates were bustling with anticipation of the rescue ahead, though being far fewer than that of the original _Pearl_ crew. These people were certainly misfits as Will had described. The crew from her childhood all shared a similarity of being complete rogues and scallawags, these scallawags seemed a little less…wild. Less driven by treachery. This meant that Jack had either learned his lesson in picking his companions more carefully, or simply, this was all that Tortuga had left to offer.

A scruffy-looking man met her on deck. “I believe Mr. Turner informed us that two would be joining us this morning.”

“Aye,” Rose said, unable to hide her chagrin. “That there was, but there was a sudden change of plans.”

The man pursed his lips. “It’s bad enough luck to have one woman aboard, let alone two at once. I’m not so certain about this…”

“Believe me, good sir, it is in your best interests to have me aboard. This shall all be rectified once Jack has returned to the ship, I assure you.”

“Let’s hope,” the man said skeptically. “The name’s Joshamee Gibbs, longtime friend of the Captain and his family.”

Rose was unable to conceal her grin as she carefully stated, “Hexfury. Rose Hexfury.” She had no choice at this moment but to leave the words, _If you are a friend of Jack and his family, then that means that we too are friends, Master Gibbs,_ unspoken, but perhaps soon enough she could at last reveal the truth about her parentage.

“Well, Miss Hexfury,” Gibbs said, pointing along the shoreline to where the fortress loomed atop the hillside. “We’re as of yet still concealed behind that cliff face, and we’ll stay right here for a time. But we intend to make haste as soon as the parrot returns. That signals that Jack’s scheduled hanging is about to commence.”

Rose understood. “And by the time you sail around that face, the timing should be right for Jack to make his way to us, then?”

“Aye, that’s the idea, given that things go according to plan…and Lord knows that they most assuredly _never_ go according to plan, especially where Jack is concerned!”

Rose smiled, preparing to agree with his statement, when she suddenly heard a cry from another crewman.

“Man overboard!”

All on deck scrambled to peer over the starboard side of the ship, including Rose and Gibbs.

“I can’t see!” Gibbs cried, pushing aside men who were lingering along the banister. “Is it an officer?”

Rose pushed her way to the front alongside him, peering down at the newcomer afloat in the open ocean; Ben. Her eyes went wide when she saw his slightly demure expression as he reached out to climb up the rigging of the ship.

“It’s no officer,” she explained to Gibbs. “It’s the second individual Will informed you about! He came after all!”

They helped him aboard, and he quickly wrung himself out and pushed the hair back from his eyes. Rose rushed to his side.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you had made up your mind.”

“I had thought so too…until about as soon as you began to row away from me.” His mouth began to turn upwards slightly into a lopsided grin that made Rose smile as well.

“So, are you staying?”

“If he’ll have me, yes,” Ben confirmed. “And, of course, if _you’ll_ still have me.”

She put a hand on his arm firmly. “Of course,” she said merrily. Only a few hours ago, she had accepted the fact that she could not possess a life with both Jack and Ben, but she could not be happier that somehow, with Ben’s sudden change of heart, both of her dreams could come true.

There was still the matter of making sure that Jack actually was _alive_ , and the next part of the rescue mission went into effect almost immediately after Ben’s reunion with the _Pearl_ when Cotton’s parrot flew back to the ship. Gibbs gave the orders to skirt the shoreline headed right for the fortress, and steadily, the morbid, stony palace grew plainly into sight.

Rose rushed up the stairs to the wheel, where Anamaria steered with eyes unwavering from the targeted location. “Will they fire at us?” she asked her.

“Perhaps,” Anamaria replied. “But chances are they’ll be so distracted that it will be too late to man their cannons before we’re already headed out to free waters.”

“Aye,” Ben corroborated, standing beside Rose. “The _Pearl_ is the fastest ship in the Caribbean, they’ll have little hope in catching us that quickly.”

Anamaria looked to him. “You’re acquainted with her?”

“More than acquainted,” Ben admitted. “I’ve sailed her.”

Anamaria had little time to question Ben about this, for suddenly, a large splash drew their attention to the waves below the fort.

“Give me your telescope,” Rose said to Ben, who quickly obliged. Extending it, Rose frantically searched the churning waters amongst jagged rocks right along the shoreline. For a long time, whatever had fallen from that great height failed to break the surface of the waves once more. She prayed silently that this being that had fallen and not reappeared was not her half-brother, and maybe just an unlucky Naval officer.

All of these wishes disappeared, however, when something _did_ break the surface, however, and that something owned a long mop of dark hair that could belong to no one else but Jack. Rose let out a holler in joy, exclaiming, “It’s him! It’s Jack!”

“Dead ahead, lads! Full cover!” Gibbs ordered. There was a tangible energy in everyone’s step and sound on deck upon discovering that Jack had made it out alive and was currently swimming right for them! Even Anamaria had a wide grin on her face.

The rest of the crew was busying themselves with sailing the ship swiftly towards where Jack was currently swimming up to the ship's side, and Rose was glued to Ben’s telescope, almost afraid to lose sight of him once again. Once he had come close enough that Rose felt certain that their mission was fully a success, she suddenly thought of Will. She wondered if he managed to get away. She repositioned the scope and peered up at the fort looming over the cliff to see if she could catch a glimpse of any activity. What she found made her even happier, for there, right next to the spot from which Jack had presumably fallen a few moments before, stood Will and Elizabeth sharing a kiss warmed by the rising sun.

Rose beamed. “He won her heart after all!” she whispered merrily. Silently, she thanked Will for having kept his word and succeeding to rescue her half-brother.

Jack was hoisted on deck with such a force that he nearly flew from one side to the other, but thankfully landed right at the wheel. The crew rushed to him, and though every muscle in Rose’s body was tensed to do the same, she stayed behind with Ben. _One thing at a time,_ she told herself. _Let him reunite with_ the Pearl, _then with you._

From afar, they watched as Jack was helped to his feet and once again stood at the wheel, taking Anamaria’s place. Silence fell among them as they watched Jack revel in taking his rightful place as Captain once again. But just as soon as that moment began, it ended, for Jack began barking orders and his men all rushed to make sail for a yet-to-be-determined location. Rose watched as her brother, now alone at the wheel, grabbed his trusted compass and stared happily towards his heading.

As he closed the compass with a loud click, Rose turned to Ben, nearly breathless with nerves. “I think I’m ready,” she said. “Come with me.”

Ben nodded hesitantly. “It’s best if I stay behind you, though. It would be best if joy upon seeing you came before anger upon seeing _me.”_

Together, they moved closer to the wheel, but Jack was preoccupied with his captaining.

“Master Gibbs!” he shouted.

“Aye Cap’n?” replied Gibbs, materializing immediately as if out of thin air.

“We sail for Tortuga.”

Gibbs grinned gleefully. “Aye sir!”

“Take the wheel, then,” said Jack, handing off the wheel and walking steadily right towards Rose and Ben. “I’m off to go examine and rectify the damage Hector has done to my quarters.”

He passed Rose and Ben, not having seen them. Rose took a sharp inhale of breath, prepared to say something to stop him, but he was too quick. However, he stopped abruptly after passing them and backed up, eyes squinting dangerously into Ben’s.

Rose’s heart sank when she realized that he had recognized Ben before her. This was not according to plan.

“You…” Jack growled, pointing a many-ringed finger right into Ben’s face.

“I can explain…” Ben gulped.

Jack smiled, “Oh, no need for that.” With a frantic flourish of his hands, he caught the attention of two of his more bulkier men. “Take _this,”_ he ordered them, referring to Ben, “And toss him overboard. I won’t be sailing with any mutineers from the past on this day!”

“No!” Rose cried, attempting to pry these men’s hands off of Ben. “Please Jack—er… _sir,_ Mr. McHenry evaded Barbossa’s reign!”

“It’s true,” Ben chimed in. “I left nearly as soon as the mutiny occurred. I regret it, sir.”

Jack looked skeptical. “Aye, easy to say anything to appease the winning side!”

“It’s the truth, sir!” cried Ben.

“Aye, Captain!” Rose echoed. “We both even aided William Turner in his rescue of you not moments ago!”

Jack paused at hearing this, reconsidering. “Fine then,” he finally announced. “Take these two to the brig. I can’t risk another mutiny, so we’ll keep them the night and let them off at Tortuga.” He seemed satisfied at his decision, spun on his heel and headed straight for his quarters once more.

Rose wiggled out out of her captor’s grip and ran to keep pace with Jack, who had his eyes set straight ahead.

“Please, sir, I think it’s in your best interests that you keep us aboard.”

“Is that so?” said he, uninterested.

“Aye! I have something that belongs to you!”

Jack _did_ pause at this, stopping his movement and looking at her in alarm. “What is it? It’s not a child, is it? If it is, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”

Rose couldn’t help but laugh at this. “No,” she said, with a grin. “It’s something precious, and long-awaited.”

Jack’s brow further furrowed. “Still sounds like a child. Do get to it and assuage my fears.”

Rose reached around her neck and procured his pendant. Looking downward at his belt, she grinned upon seeing that hers still stayed with him.

His eyes widened in sudden realization of who she really was. It had been ten painstakingly long years, and at last, Rose had finally made it.

“Hello, brother!”


	12. A Chest Awaits...

“Really,” reasoned Rose, “It’s fine. I can bunk with the rest of the crew. If Anamaria can manage, so can I.”

“Nonsense!” Jack scoffed. “No sister of mine will be turned away from a place in the Captain’s quarters. If I didn’t already have a First Mate, you’d be it!”

Rose smiled as she folded a sheet across her makeshift bed, the self-same sleeping arrangement she had had all those years ago.

“It was kind of you to keep Ben on,” Rose said for about the fifth time that evening. She kept stating her gratitude just in case Jack had suddenly changed his mind.

“Mmm…” he hummed, still with a tone of skepticism. “We’ll see how he does. I’ve got Gibbs keeping a close eye on that one. But if you say he’s changed…”

“He has!” lied Rose. While Ben no longer wished ill upon Jack, his mind and physical health was still unsteady as a result of the hardships he had just endured. There was no doubt in her mind, however, that she could bring him back to normal. “He’ll serve you well,” she assured him.

Jack was reclining in a large chair, feet up on his desk. “It feels good to be back,” he said with a smile.

“I should say the same for myself,” said Rose, taking a seat upon her newly made bed. “It’s been far too long!”

“Aye!”

Rose took a deep breath, then encroached upon the subject that had been keeping her so fearful for such a long time. “Jack?”

“Mmm?”

“Barbossa mutinied against you upon that deserted isle shortly upon leaving me with Tia Dalma, correct?”

“Indeed.”

“And when did you escape it?”

“Three days later,” said he. “Rumrunners can come in quite handy when they need to be.” He suddenly sat up, “But if anyone asks, I was there for _months!_ ”

Rose smiled, but quickly returned to the subject at hand. “And…when you got off it, what did you do with the remaining ten years?”

Suddenly, Jack understood her meaning. “Ah…you wish to know why I didn’t find a way to come back to the bayou and fetch you, eh?”

“In so many words, yes.”

Jack stood and meandered towards her. “Truth is, love, I had made you a promise that the next time we’d see each other is right here, onboard the _Pearl._ And here we are! Promise fulfilled!”

 _Thanks in no small part to me,_ Rose couldn’t help but think. She left these words unspoken, however. “So…you’re saying that if I wasn’t already aboard today, you would have made your way to the bayou to retrieve me?”

Jack paused, eyes darting from side to side, considering this before he replied. The silence was incredibly painful before he replied with what Rose considered to be a boldfaced lie, “Yes, of course!”

She decided to shake off her fears at this moment, however. What was done was done, and she was here now. Anything else didn’t really matter…at least for the time being. “I could have helped you take her back, you know,” she said to prove her worth. “Perhaps with more help, even in less time!”

“I don’t doubt that, but it’s better this way, methinks. And it wasn’t too terrible in the bayou, was it?”

“No,” Rose replied.

“And Angelica? How was living with that?”

“Tortuous, but what won’t kill you makes you stronger,” she reasoned. “Tia let us both leave at the same time. I lost contact with her as soon as I met up with Ben.”

“Oh, I doubt I’ve seen the last of her,” Jack said demurely. “If not in my nightmares, certainly to take whatever I possess as what she feels is justified revenge.”

“On that thought,” Rose questioned, “What about the Navy? They’re certainly not going to let you just get away with your freedom.”

“Certainly not! I may have left the Commodore bamboozled, but he’ll soon enough recover and come at us full score. We’ll be ready for him, though.” He leaned closer to her, as though sharing a secret. “Improvisation, remember?”

Rose grinned. “So what’s next for the great Captain Jack Sparrow?”

“And the infallible Rose Hexfury!” he announced. “I still like that name, by the way!”

“Well, now that you have the _Pearl,_ we’re utterly unstoppable!”

Jack stopped and gave a slight, uncomfortable sneer at this. “Well, actually, I don’t really…”

Rose’s expression fell. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“I owe someone quite a deal for it…”

Rose gave an exasperated sigh. “What man? How much?”

“Well I don’t necessarily owe him money…nor is it a _man_ , strictly speaking…”

“Jack… What have you done?”

“Well…remember the deal I made with Jones for the _Pearl_?”

“I recall a ridiculous tale you told to a frightened girl you were leaving behind on Tortuga…”

Jack took her by the shoulders, suddenly growing quite serious. “It was real. He’s real. Davy Jones and the _Flying Dutchman_ are very real, very slimy, and very prompt with their deadlines.”

Rose furrowed her brow. “What do you owe him?”

“Er…my soul?”

“JACK!” Rose exclaimed.

“BUT! But! I intend to circumvent the whole nasty confrontation entirely! There is a chest, and inside the chest is the root of Jones’s power. And if I get that power… I’ll live forever.”

Rose was quiet for a time, and cast her eyes downwards, considering all this. _Of course this reunion wouldn’t be easy, how foolish to expect any less,_ she thought to herself. Jack was trying to peer into her eyes as if to better read her expression.

Finally, Rose returned his stare. “How do we go about finding that chest, then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that does it for Curse of the Black Pearl! Next we move on to Dead Man's Chest! Happy reading!


End file.
